Rich Millener (M Sport)

February 07, 2023 00:06:51
Rich Millener (M Sport)
M-Sport
Rich Millener (M Sport)

Feb 07 2023 | 00:06:51

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Show Notes

Patrick talks to Rich Millener in the week of Rally Sweden

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Episode Transcript

00:00:00:01 - 00:00:12:21 Patrick It's Monday and the prospect of lots of snow. Rich, that sounds pretty chilly and unpleasant, but very cold. And but the prospects of plenty of snow in Sweden is obviously a good thing. 00:00:13:06 - 00:00:25:14 Rich Millener Yes. Seems to be good condition. I think it'll be an interesting rally, a few of the guys did some practice rallies this weekend, one event a year, which is very different to anything else. So looking forward to getting out there and seeing how we get on with all the snow. 00:00:25:18 - 00:00:37:19 Patrick Also, I mean, nice to get that result on the Otepaa Winter Rally in Estonia with Ott getting a win in the in the obviously in the PUMA. But in many ways that was a test very much before the event itself. 00:00:37:23 - 00:00:54:11 Rich Millener Yeah, I mean, I think I, I think we all expected him to kind of win as long as there was no issues with the car, which there wasn't, so you know a quite substantial win. But it was a good opportunity for him to get a bit more mileage in the car because, I mean, it was only one test day prior to that and your only completing around 160-180 kilometers. 00:00:54:11 - 00:01:09:00 Rich Millener So it's not a huge amount of time. And as we as we saw before, Monte-Carlo, you know, this is the hardest point for Ott to get used to the car and get as much mileage and get feel as relaxed as possible in it. So he did that rally for a bit of extra help and hopefully some good preparation for this weekend. 00:01:09:00 - 00:01:28:05 Patrick I mean, when you think about the testing regulations, I mean, effectively testing regulations in World Rally Championship 21 days, seven days per driver. But in many ways also this idea of you being able to go on home events like an event in obviously in Estonia, it’s very much part of an extension of that testing program. 00:01:28:07 - 00:01:48:24 Rich Millener Yeah. I mean, I'm not sure you'll see too many events this year where people are going to do these extra ones. You know, the event, the calendar is already very tight for WRC, but this this being bit more of a specialist event, you know, there's a bit more justification for going there, but it's good for the local spectators and fans, you know, especially they got to see Ott in the car already instead of waiting until the summer for rally Estonia. 00:01:49:05 - 00:01:53:04 Rich Millener So that was nice for them, but also had a bit of a purpose for us in the background as well. 00:01:53:10 - 00:02:03:16 Patrick And to some extent, presumably that helps with budgeting for testing because obviously testing itself involves quite a lot of expense just just to get the cars out and get them out and testing with. 00:02:03:18 - 00:02:23:01 Rich Millener Yeah. It does I mean there's still fixed costs for both, for both sides of things. You know, you've still got to physically have people on the ground and stay in hotels and things like that. But, you know, the entry fee is certainly lot cheaper than a road costs for a hire road for the day. But for each test or event has its own benefits, you know, any testing you can, you can choose exactly what you want to do, how long you want to run for, what things you want to try. 00:02:23:01 - 00:02:35:06 Rich Millener But in a rally scenario that's a bit more difficult because you've got to keep to the rally itinerary. But yeah, both elements work for us in different ways and I think it was a successful weekend building up to building up to the rally. 00:02:35:10 - 00:02:52:22 Patrick Absolutely. Now we've got Ott out on the event. You’ve also got Pierre Louis Loubet out there as well. I mean, Pierre had a bit of an unfortunate sort of, if you like, accident on the on the on the first round of the championship Monte-Carlo. But in many ways, I mean, again, that young man has got a lot of a lot of potential, hasn't he. 00:02:52:23 - 00:03:10:10 Rich Millener Yeah. I mean I think that's the reason he's in the car. We saw some good speed with him before his unfortunate little mistake, which then cost him a good result because he lost power steering after the accident and the following day made a small mistake right at the end of the stage, which put him out for the day. So it was a tricky rally for him to get going this year. 00:03:10:10 - 00:03:22:23 Rich Millener So I hope he can get back on track for Sweden. But I think Sweden was probably not going to be his strongest event of the year, but it's important he gets solid result and gets back on track for the course of the year after that, which is a little bit more back to normal, back to gravel tarmac that he’s used to. 00:03:23:05 - 00:03:28:11 Rich Millener So I think a bit of confidence building again this weekend, but we will still have a lot of faith in what he can achieve. 00:03:28:17 - 00:03:41:24 Patrick And I think also, I mean, Ott must have been pleased with having the opportunity to test the car, obviously on the Home event. But at the same time, he gave you a lot of feedback, which possibly seemed to be very much feedback you never really had before. 00:03:42:00 - 00:03:56:13 Rich Millener Yeah, just a very different way of looking at things. You know, Ott’s got a lot of experience and the other drivers helped design and setup the car, which was great. And now we've got someone different in who who's got a lot of experience of other cars as well. Who’s given us some other pointers to look at and concentrate on. 00:03:56:13 - 00:04:23:07 Rich Millener So you know I think its still more about fine tuning the car than anything else and especially to Ott’s style compared to others. It might be quite different. But yeah, it’s good to have someone who's experienced well, in fact, all of the latest or the last manufacturer teams in Toyota. Hyundai and with us. Today he brings a wealth of knowledge about car development as well, which has been great for us and hopefully we can dial the Puma in so that he can get a good result in Sweden and kind of keep him going for the rest of the season. 00:04:23:09 - 00:04:40:03 Patrick But also, I mean, he must be pleased and delighted to be back with M-Sport again, which obviously has been very much part of his building up, in his career and development of his career. And many ways, I mean, him being back with you is obviously good for him and also good for for, for for M-Sport generally. 00:04:40:03 - 00:05:00:08 Rich Millener Yeah, it's great to have him back in the team. But I think his number one priority is to try and win the championship. So we've got to work hard to try and help him do that and do as best we can. But yeah, it's nice to have him back in, but I don't think it’s the number one point he's concentrating on, but I think he knows it, you know, by being with us, there is an opportunity to he knows all the right people and how to get things done and he can push us to to develop and go forward. 00:05:00:08 - 00:05:09:21 Rich Millener So, you know, there's no learning time effectively to understand who everybody else he already kind of knows that. So it's nice to have him back and nice to have someone that could potentially give us a structure. 00:05:09:21 - 00:05:25:14 Patrick I mean, looking towards the rally itself, I mean, 18 stages, obviously, we're talking about temperatures being very low. But in many ways, the fact that we've had one or two rally Swedens, which have been lacking in snow, we've got a lot of snow out there at the moment. You obviously had a lot of snow in Macedonia as well. 00:05:25:16 - 00:05:40:03 Rich Millener Yeah, I mean, I haven't looked fully detailed at the weather forecast for the weekend. Yeah, it doesn't look the coldest it could have possibly been. So I think there will be maybe a bit of close to melting in the day, which means we could maybe see a bit of gravel coming through. But, you know, I think we tested it in similar conditions. 00:05:40:03 - 00:05:53:16 Rich Millener So we should have setups available for us for that. So I think it will be okay. But, you know, it's a very tricky rally. If you get caught out or touch a snow bank, which we saw with the other guys that were testing on the on the little rally in Finland this weekend. You know, it can put an end to day, basically. 00:05:53:16 - 00:06:00:19 Rich Millener So there's a very big, very fine line between having a fast car, but also going through the entire the entire day with no issue. 00:06:00:23 - 00:06:05:16 Patrick And also a lot of rally three fiestas out this weekend as well in Sweden. 00:06:06:00 - 00:06:27:09 Rich Millener Yes, start of the 2023 JWRC, which is always a great thing to see. I think there's nine crews registered for this weekend, you know, they get their first experience of WRC with the rally three on Snow, which is a real nice experience for any young driver coming through. I'm looking forward to seeing who can who can do well in that because it always tends to come out with some real tight competition and find some good talent for the future. 00:06:27:13 - 00:06:29:22 Patrick So we're going to get a win or a rally. Sweden do you think? 00:06:30:06 - 00:06:40:23 Rich Millener I would like to say yes, but the reality is difficult. But, you know, I think if you were happy to settle for second place and that wouldn’t be a good approach. So yeah, so yeah, we've got to push as hard as we can to try and get a victory. 00:06:41:03 - 00:06:52:01 Patrick Well I wish a lot of luck for the weekend anyway. I hope it all goes well and best wishes for everybody in the team and all the hard work you've done behind the scenes in Estonia obviously will hopefully pay off. 00:06:52:01 - 00:06:52:16 Rich Millener Yeah, Thank you, Patrick.

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